Rapper Kendrick Lamar promises ‘storytelling’ at Super Bowl show
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Rapper Kendrick Lamar will headline the half-time show at Feb 9’s showdown between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles.
PHOTO: AFP
NEW YORK – Kendrick Lamar, one of the big success stories of the recent Grammys, said on Feb 6 that his fans should expect “storytelling” at the upcoming Super Bowl half-time show.
The American rapper, 37, will headline the half-time show at Feb 9’s showdown between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles, and has announced that American singer-songwriter Sza will join him as a featured guest.
Lamar had a clean sweep at Feb 2’s Grammy Awards, winning in all five categories for which he received nominations – Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Rap Song, Best Rap Performance and Best Music Video.
“I’ve always been very open about storytelling through my catalogue and history of music. I like to always carry on that sense of people listening but also thinking,” he said in an interview ahead of the National Football League’s season finale.
Lamar said he had never imagined he would perform at the Super Bowl when he was starting out. In 2022, he appeared as a featured performer in a hip-hop showcase, but this will be his first headline show.
“I wasn’t thinking about no Super Bowl – I was thinking about the best verse... It wasn’t no Super Bowl,” he said.
“What I know is the passion I have now is still the passion I had then.”
He and Sza will head out on tour in April.
The big question on everyone’s mind is whether Lamar will perform his Grammy-winning scathing diss track Not Like Us, which is part of a feud with fellow rapper Drake that has landed in court.
Lamar did not address that issue directly, but said he was “just thinking about the culture, really”.
“When people talk about rap, man, the conversations out there, they think it’s just rapping – (like) it’s not an actual art form,” he said. “So, when you put records like that at the forefront, it reminds people that this is more than just something that came 50 years ago.”
Lamar released Not Like Us in May 2024, the fifth of a collection of songs skewering the Canadian rapper that dropped less than a day after his previous single, Meet The Grahams.
A record-breaking streaming giant, Not Like Us catapulted to the top of the charts and quickly became a West Coast rap anthem, beloved for its pounding bass line, rhythmic strings and exaggerated enunciation. The lyrics of the song insinuate that Drake is a paedophile.
Drake has filed a defamation suit against their shared label, saying Universal Music Group’s release and promotion of Not Like Us amounted to defamation and harassment.
Universal Music Group has called the accusations “illogical”. AFP
